My favorite app just announced to me that I’ve just now traveled over 400,000 air miles in the last five years. No wonder my Eagle Creek Duffle looks like hell! All those miles are photographic related, traveling to and from projects with camera gear. If you’re new to traveling with gear, it can be scary and some of the kind words of advice I see, of not much real help. So I thought I’d put out my formula for traveling with gear in the hopes it might give you ideas and confidence. I basically have two modes of traveling with gear and they both depend on the subject of the project. For everything except wildlife, this is what I do.
Depending on the size of the project, I use the Think Tank Airport Security, Int’l or Airstream. All three of these bags are rollers and I use the one that holds the amount of gear needed for the project. Aviation project is always going to be the Airport Security, Landscape will either be the Int’l or Airstream. A number of airlines are now restricting the placement of wheeled bags in the overhead of smaller, commuter flights. This will at times effect which bag I take as the Security won’t fit under the seat where the Airstream will with ease. You can see in the packing video what goes in the carry-on. That means what you don’t see in the video, tripod, chargers, cables and the rest go in the belly of the plane. Yes, there is the real possibility your checked luggage might not show up which is why I always have all batteries charged. Knock on wood but in all my miles, my luggage has never been permanently lost but a couple of times, delayed. (there are packing videos for all my bags on our YouTube channel)
Now when it comes to wildlife (which means the 800mm is going), then the only bag is our MP-1 V2 (re-released this June). My original design, the MP-1 is still the only bag that will hold a large telephoto like the 800mm or 600mm AND fit in the overhead of small commuters jets (pictured here yesterday in CRJ200). This is important because on smaller flights like I mentioned, you can’t take roller bags which means it has to go in the belly. Most photographers freak at this prospect.
The other part of air travel to consider is your boarding. Many photographers on their first trips have either no earned miles or flight priority so have to board near the end. This is typically when all the overhead space is full. While it’s more money, paying the extra when you check in to board early will avoid a lot of the stress in air travel with camera gear. I’ve heard all the horror stories and sure some will have to share theirs with me after reading this post. I’ll knock on wood again because I have none. Boarding a plane with a plan, a smile after proper packing makes travel as stress free as it can be. That makes your photo trip just that much more fun!